


The Long Way Home

by Zanbaby



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Caretaking, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Gender-neutral Reader, Light Angst, Nightmares, Romance, Soulmates, Tenderness, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22198852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zanbaby/pseuds/Zanbaby
Summary: Asra still has nightmares about the past~
Relationships: Asra (The Arcana)/Reader
Kudos: 126





	The Long Way Home

**Author's Note:**

> Nightmares seem to be my go to for comfort opportunities 😅 anyway, when being the reader I'm not a huge fan of the Asra and MC backstory so I thought I'd try to give it an angsty twist that also makes the concept more palatable to me, hope y'all can enjoy it too~

It’s only been a couple of weeks since you moved back into the shop with Asra, and you won’t remark on it of course, but the usually distant magician is pretty much inseparable from you at all hours.

Now that your memories have returned, you know that he wasn’t always like this, but after what you’ve been through, you can’t say you don’t understand.

When you’d woken in his arms on the floor of the shop, you knew you weren’t meant to be there.

Asra had looked so relieved, and it pains you now to think of how his face had dropped and he’d subtly clutched at his chest when you warily got up and asked who he was.

You were as good as new, but since passing over to the other side your memories became irrecoverable, and despite giving everything to bring you back, Asra still lost you. You left Vesuvia the very next day.

He’d spent years trying to come to terms with it. He couldn’t fault you, of course. It had been his decision to bring you back, and he knew the risks. You were always a free spirit, and there was no guarantee you’d recall the life you had before… or that you’d still love him.

It wasn’t until that fateful night when Nadia came to his shop in search of you, and you of her, having sensed she needed your help, that you saw Asra for the first time in three years.

You were even more powerful by then, and you still remember the strange feeling that radiated from him; fear and despair, as though — faced with how strong you’d become on your own — he believed rather than teaching you to hone your powers to the best of your ability, he’d just been holding you back all those years before.

You weren’t the old you, either, and that had frightened him too. But even still, he was deeply in love with you from the minute he laid eyes on you again.

As you’d been working together to help Nadia, and clear Julian’s good name, Asra had been pining hard. You’d pretended not to notice and showed no interest at first, but Asra was patient and polite and _never_ pushy.

He wanted nothing more than for you to love him again, but he wouldn’t ever demand it, because you simply didn’t know him, so he’d dedicated himself to earning it, and tried to show you why you’d fallen for him once before.

Truthfully he was just like a little schoolboy; trying to be helpful or to do you favours, even things as simple and sweet as walking with you to places and fetching things to save you the hassle of pausing your work.

You found him adorable, and your feelings for him returned well before your memories did. As it turned out, even through that kind of separation, your souls wandered toward each other again all on their own, like they were destined for one another.

You have all your memories from before the resurrection now, of course, but you know that you won’t ever go back to who you used to be. Though, you don’t particularly want to, and actually, nor does Asra.

He’d long since let go of the image of you being his sweet, starry-eyed apprentice; if anything, you’re the one who should be teaching _him_ , as he so often likes to state.

Before, he’d been bewitched by your kind heart and your mellifluousness, but now it’s something else. Your confidence and your calmness is what stirs him, and though he’s shy about admitting to it, it’s nice to be under someone’s wing for once; trusting you to look after him and guide him.

You glance down as you feel him start to tremble in your arms. He must be dreaming about the past, and you try to soothe him just by holding him a little tighter and letting him know that he’s safe.

He’s deep in the throes of something dark though, continuing to squirm and plead softly.

“It’s alright, darling,” you hush. “You’re alright…”

At the sound of your voice he begins to fret louder, his eyes moving under their lids as he searches for you.

“Please… please look at me,” he whimpers, “I don’t want you to forget… I don’t want you to forget me again!”

“Asra,” you coax, trying to guide him up to the surface of his dream.

“I don’t want to lose you again!” he cries, waking himself with the volume of his own voice and panting hysterically when he enters consciousness.

“Good boy, take deep breaths,” you coach, holding his face between your hands and gazing deeply into his frightened eyes until they stop darting around frantically and settle on you. 

He murmurs your name like a timid child; unsure for a moment if this is reality. 

“I see you, Asra,” you assert, trying on a warm smile to reassure him. “I do see you, my angel,” you promise.

Your words finally catch up to him, and you watch him swallow as he brings a hand up to shadow the one resting on his cheek.

He nods, but his eyes soon fill with tears, and you can see in the way he sets his jaw that he’s trying desperately to hold them back.

“It’s okay, darling,” you promise him, bringing him in closer to hold so that he can bury his face and sob into your chest without reserve. “I’m here, I’m always here, Asra.”

This seems only to make him cry more, but if anything, it’s what he needs right now. 

He clings tighter, his sobs almost like coughs; strained and broken barks of pain, but you just hold him in your arms, stroking the back of his head and murmuring sweet nothings to him.

“That was scary, I know,” you tell him.

You didn’t see his dream, but you’re familiar enough now with what Asra fears the most, and you know that whatever he saw was probably during the time after you left.

It seems Asra’s greatest treasure is also his greatest fear.

“Please don’t forget me,” he weeps, “p-please don’t forget me again and leave! I can’t bear to be without you!”

That confirms it pretty solidly, and it’s all you can do just to hush him and rub his back, promising him he’ll never have to be without you again and letting him cry as much as he needs to.

“My flower, my beautiful shining star,” you coo to him, “I will always choose you, no matter what separates us. I will always find you, Asra.”

His breath stutters as he starts to slowly calm down, sniffling and hiccupping, but feeling safe in your arms as you hush and hold him without reserve.

“I love you,” you tell him, placing delicate little kisses around his temples. “You’ll always be my treasure.”

You can tell he’s blushing by the way he tucks his chin to his chest and snuggles shyly into the join of your neck and shoulder, a watery smile growing in place of his previously mournful expression.

Asra isn’t used to being sweet-talked or wooed — not effectively, anyway — and it used to be so rare to see him blush and be bashful.

Not anymore though. Since having you back in his life Asra is always smiling, and he’s getting used to the swooning, too...

You keep holding him, even when you can sense that his mind is at ease again.

“I’m sorry,” he says, sounding a little congested but mostly like his usual self now.

“For what, sweetheart?” you croon, stroking his hair back the way you like to see it and kissing his forehead.

“F-for dragging up the past all the time,” he sighs. “Even in my dreams I just… can’t seem to stop worrying…”

You tut sympathetically and caress his cheek.

“I shouldn’t have left,” you admit. “I was hasty and unnecessarily aloof with you back then.”

Asra shakes his head, glad for an opportunity to offer you some comfort in return.

“You were scared. You didn’t know where you were or who you were… you were just trying to protect yourself,” he says understandingly.

He’s right, of course. It was startling to just wake up with total amnesia, and even after you left you had wondered if it was the right choice to do so; if it was the safest choice.

You remember what you had told him earlier though. No matter which direction you two wander from each other, no matter how far you get, your souls are connected, and they will always bring you back to one another.

“I’m glad I came home, though,” you smile, scratching the nape of his neck affectionately as you lay, tangled together sharing warmth. “No matter what your nightmares tell you, I’ll always come back, Asra,” you soothe.

You feel him smiling against you as he rests his head under your chin.

“I know… and I think one day my dreams will know too,” he says softly.

You hum a gentle sound of agreement, continuing to pet him idly as you both drift off to sleep again.

This new life might not have started with Asra in it, but you’re going to make it a good one, and you want to have many more adventures, with him by your side.


End file.
